Not By Fate
by FlippinBilly
Summary: Story with own characters, but inspired by twilight. Somewhat... I don't know where Im going with this.
1. Imbecile

I could honestly say I hated it here. This stupid town. Stupid people with their stupid accents... Stupid, just plain, stupid. But, being the skilled dramatist that I am, I could easily fake a smile and go on with my day. I could want to strangle the pale neck of the next person that walked within a fifty-foot radius of me- not like this place was big enough for that to happen- but still remain aloof. And yet it is all so cliche'. Inevitably, I could just stop caring one way or the other. I could just disregard anything that came my way, and just go on living life. Life in this town..Stupid. I hold great pity for this place, not just myself, but for the people who have actually grown up here, and, my mind shutters the thought, _reproduce_ here. How repulsive. Mankind, the worst kind of creature on this planet, to actually think of mankind as something that needs to be kept at a population at all, is stupid. I clenched a white blouse in my hand as I remembered how I was supposed to be unpacking. I let out an agitatited sigh and returned to my work. I kept thinking to myself,'Mankind. How stupid.'

The noisey ringing of my phone caught my attention; dragging me back to this stupid world. After little moments notice- or, perhaps, the lack of caring I had today- I abruptly recognized the chosed ring tone and became aware that this call was important, maybe the most important thing to me now-a-days. I dashed beyond the labrynith of boxes and stumbled as I grabbed the phone, hitting my knee on what seemed to be Brandi's valuables- or shall I say, _junk_. I flipped open the cellphone that was still clenched in my hand and gave an almost breathless,"hello?"

_Dialtone._

Too late. I slammed the phone shut and staggered to my feet. No mistake that there was a red mark -ill in contrast to the skin on the rest of my leg- upon my knee. Stupid box. Then a noise reendered me back to my fixtation for the moment, reminded me that I had one missed call. I eagerly opened my phone and dialed my voice-mail number so that I could here his sweet voice. We had been going out for only a month now and he also took the move very hard. This was the voice of an angel, I thought to myself pressing pound to drag my very mood a substantial amount. Here, in this phone, was my life crashing.

"Hey.." My angel spoke such soft and tender words and I felt my heart rise out of my chest and fly away. "it's Jake..Uhm." His words seemed hesitant, and his reason was in the next ten seconds of explanation.

"I like you and all, but I don't think Im up to having a long distance relationship to someone I have only been going out with for like, a month. So, um.. Im sorry, but it can't work... I'll always remember you.. 'Bye."

And with those words, my heart came spiraling back down like a war plane that hat just been torpedoed. Aim and fire, I thought to myself while slumping down ontop of a comfoter. I stared at my phone a moment, debating whether to retaliate by calling back, or to just give up. Knowing me, I'd avoid the confrontation. I let out a small, agitated groan as I chucked the phone across the room. Thank goodness it was one of those cheap-ass, durable kind of phones, otherwise I might've regretted it when it met with my dresser in a thrust of fury, berfore -that is- colliding and breaking in two. I sat there thinking about how I could relate to the phone, and how out of someone elses doing, it had been shattered. No, shattered is too bland of a word here, more like.._mutalated_.

And in this instant, this house became very stale to me. I decided to take a walk around this new and strange neighborhood. The roads were older, and everything had a Georgian fascade to it, probably from its orgins. Manningtree was a new place, indeed- an intirely different country at that. But, it wouldn't surprise me that Brandi would jump right on board for moving to England to be with Ike, having no concern with how I would feel about her descision. Typical, I suppose.

I remember the first day I met Ike. It was a year ago, and my mom went out with some friends one night to a bar while I was at my dad's house. But, my dad had to leave early for work so he dropped me off at Brandi's, probably thankful to get me out of his care. I remember walking into the kitchen and dropping my luggage on the floor when I saw a stranger rummaging through our refridgerator. He stood there in his underwear, about as shocked as I was. After a moment of pure embarassment he nodded and walked back to Brandi's room. And then it hit me, he had slept with Brandi, with my moher. A few minutes later Brandi came back out with her new man-candy to, "properly introduce" us, as she says. Then a few months went by and I had grown used to seeing Ike in his underwear, going trough our fridge. It was when Brandi decided to go on a vacation with Ike, when I really was left in awe. She left me at Dad's again, and said they were going somewhere secret, which was an understatement. More like somewhere horribly, horribly wrong-some place that should be illegal to stupid people, such as my mother. She called the next morning announcing to us via speakerphone that she was now remarried. My father almost had a heart-attack over her irresponsibleness, and I was just the same. So here I am, two and a half months later, in Englad, living with Mister and Misses Stupid.

I walked down the side of the road not looking at anything, but not being totally oblivious to the actions of these 'aliens'-I like to call them. It was Friday, which meant that the Market would be open today and tomorrow, or, so I had researched. I walked past the pedestrians nearby and found myself walking closer to the bay. I enlightendly sped up to reach the water which beckoned for me so. Walking along the edge, I hummed to myself a familiar tune. It was only when I realized that that was Jake and I's song, that I actually looked where I was stepping. I had reached the river bank and now my shoes were coated in mud. I groaned a little, agitated at myself for being to oblivious, but more angry at the river. Stupid river.

But it was when my agitation came that I saw the house. A big, old house stood not far, but obviously had a "Caution" streamer nailed to the door. But, all of that made it even more enticing. I approached swiftly and stood before it, a battered and broken haven. I couldn't stop myself from smiling, it's just that the stained-glass, and the warning lables made it so much more remarkable than it already was. I stepped onto the first step, chuckling to myself when the wood beneath me creaked and clicked. Two more steps and I'd be 'face to face' in a way of speaking, with something that sparked my curiousity. I don't know what it was about the house that made me want to disregard the warnings and open the door to this house, which I had no real reason for being so fascinated by, but then I thought back to my earlier thoughts, and thats when I solomnley deciced.

_I decided to not care._


	2. Figmant

The inside looked untouched. Dust coated everything with a thin layer of itself. But to my surprise, everything was beautiful. I had always loved older things, I guess you can say vintage. I always loved taking pictures with a polaroid camera, and I always typed my stories on a type-writer. And someday, when I'm a famous and well renounced author, my fans will be envious of my fascination with the older things in life and they too will start becoming more fascinated with them. But this house wasn't vintage. This house was ancient. The chandelere that hung from the ceiling was covered in a webbed twine with small creatures awaiting more prey for them to stun and drink the life out of. Thats the message the house gave to me. I could feel my problems being drained away as I stood mesmerized by this remarkable beauty. I wanted more now. I paced around looking and admiring the objects around the room. I noted a small box embellished with jewels and gold roses, but I wouldn't dare open it. In fact, I didn't dare touch anything at all. The thought of my imperfect touch on one of these pefections, would be a total damnation to a hell of an even worse kind. Now I had been wishing I had actually unpacked and brought my camera. Just that, this house, in all its beauty, would be a subject of many different thoughts. Untouched, and undisturbed. I walked up the stairs, only to enter a corridor full of paintings. Now I had really regretted not bringing a camera. Each painting held its own place of value on the wall it rests upon. One of the ocean, and one of the sky. One of Hades, and one of a meadow. The four elements. The fith painting was the most astonishing, probably because you couldn't see it, which would make you believe that it was far too beautiful for a virgin's eyes, or that it was too hideous. Either way, the cloth draped over it was calling out to be unhooked, beseeching that I reveal the art beneath. My hand trembled as I reached out to just quickly glance underneath the silken curtain. My fingertips grew cold as I barely touched the curtain, causing it to fall to the floor. I stood in awe at the swift sound it made as it hit the floor. And that's when my head brought itself back down to Earth.

There was something wrong with this house, something missing. I notcied how I could only hear my own breaths, panting at my discovery. I looked around, taking a step back. The wood made no sound beneath my feet, it was just there. I huddled my arms to myself, suddenly freezing. I looked around once more, and not even the thin drapes that hung above the windows were moving, so, obviously that couldn't mean I was cold because the house was drafty. My mind wandered prefusly, reminding myself that nothing bad was going to happen. But not even my conscience was prepared for my meraculous conclusion. I looked back to the ground where the silk curtain lay, and my eyes traced their way back up to the painting the silk was protecting.

I became numb. I stared at the painting tentively, not blinking. There were two boys, young, around sixteen. They were both incredibly pale, and they both wore old-fashioned garments. One had a broad face, with black eyes and even blacker hair,cropped short, but he was still mind-blowingly stunning. The other boy, was a picture of perfection. His face was perfectly round in the right spots and his features were all symmetrical. He too had white skin upon longer, more rustled,onyx hair, but he was different.Not only was he mind-blowingly stunning, he was breath-takingly gorgeous. Because, his eyes were a penetrating emerald. .

A feeling of anxiousness went through me, making me stand stiff where my feet were planted. I then knew what the house was missing. This house was hollow, it signed no trace of any human contact, as though it were only built to be there. A house never intended to be lived in, but to be conscience of.

_This house was lacking life._

I closed the front door of the giant beauty behind me, taking a much needed breath of air that had life to it. I stumbled down the steps, still drunk off of the experience inside. I began to walk thinking to myself, "What the hell...that wasn't real.." shaking my head in disbelief often.

I heard wake coming from the river around the corner of the row of trees I was in. I stepped out and the sun greeted me by blinding me. I squinted and stared around, taking in every detail around me.

Ecspeacailly the most unexpected.

I peered off into the distance towards the river, where a boy sat kicking his feet in the water. He looked around my age, sixteen or fifteen. I stared at him restlessly, my breaths becoming more patched. I didn't intend on gasping for air after I had forgotten to breathe, and I most certainly did not intend on him hearing me. He froze in his place and the splashing of the water came to a pause. Just as the water stoped flowing between his feet, my blood stopped flowing to my heart,putting me in an immobilized state-of-mind. He turned quickly towards me and his stare was deathening.

A figmant in my view,

Skin as white as ice,

Hair as black as ash.

With a stare that could kill if he held you,

Within the grasp of his penetrating emerald eyes.

I vered in the opposite direction of his glare, and started to run. I couldn't control the tears from overflowing from my eyes like a leaky faucet.

As I ran through the town centre, my face red from the shock and my eyes wet from the reaction, I swear I could here people whisper. Only, these whispers were as loud as screams, shouting right next to my ear, deafening me with their words.

"Newcomer."

I didn't at least once desire to question what had happend today. Nor did I try to make an explanation. When I arrived home I went straight to my room, totally ignoring Brandi and Ike's greeting. I flicked on my light and brought out my charcoal kit. Thankfully, Brandi wasn't totally stupid. Shes the one who finished unpacking for me while I was out on my walk. My thoughts stuttered themselves as I tried my damndest not to replay what had happend.

I soon found myself out of my mind, randomly drawing on the paper with no conscience mind of it. I let my emotions go, and took a deep breath, and just let my body take over. I felt myself reaching out for a new colour, and then going back to my drawing. When I finally became aware enough to stop, I didn't want to believe that what I had just drawn was really there.

Against white paper,

layed a pair of glaring,

hate-filled,emerald green eyes.

My mind came back and I balled the paper up and threw it across the room. I sat there as a stone. I could feel nothing, no blood in my face. I didn't even want to imagine how white I was right now. I arose from my seat staggered, and turned off the light. I layed in my bed and stared at the ceiling.

I wanted to believe that the green tint the light from the moon made the leaves outside my window play against my walls was just a figmant of my imagination.

_Green was now a colour of my imagination_.


	3. Hostile

_I was in a tunnel vision. The perephrial of me was black. Black and empty. But, mostly empty. I was running, or so it seemed. I just kept running for no reason, but the whole time that I was running, I was aware that I was dreaming, but, I couldn't make this stop feeling so real. So,..vivid. I wanted nothing more than to take over my own dreams and make myself stop running. And maybe.. maybe thats why I did. I stood there in a black room, I wouldn't even call it a room, just a black space. A black, empty space. And from where I stood,I could see something approaching. Something white was coming into my vision, and it made me feel sort of relieved. I stared into this approaching glow, it was beautiful. Then a boy came into full veiw. He was breath-takingly gorgeous. He stood before me, his eyes pressed shut, and lifted his hand out to me. I stared dumbly, but didn't hesitate to take his hand. The moment our skin touched, he opened his eyes, awakening me with emotionless emerald green eyes._

I swung my eyelids open breathlessly, feeling my face to make sure I was awake, but all I felt was cold sweat. I took a deep breath and stared at the ceiling. Realizing I hadn't changed clothes since last night, and that I hadn't even taken off my shoes, I decided to take a much needed shower.

The hot water tingled against my cold skin, like the feeling you get when your foot is asleep. I stood there letting the heat reach my body. Then my thoughts wandered back to my dream. My mind raced around with questions. 'What the hell was that?! Why? Why me?! Why did that stupid stranger have to give _me_ the death stare?!' I thought, holding back tears and washing my face off. 'Why...why wasn't I afraid?' My eyes widened in amazement. I wasn't afraid yesterday when I ran away.. it was just something I felt I had to do. Something that I felt I didn't do, something bad was going to happen..not fear, just a gut feeling. The water turned chilled and I awoke from my daze. I turned off the shower and stepped our grabbing the nearest towel and wrapping it around myself with my eyes closed. I walked toward the mirror and whiped away the percipitation that clung to it, and that when I noticed something. The towell I had wrapped snugly around myself, was a striking shade of green.

"_Gaaaahhh_!" I groaned, and walked out the door to my room.

I grabbed random clothes, making sure they weren't green, and put them on. I settled on a teal tanktop and a plaid, black and white skirt. Nothing green.

When I got downstairs Brandi and Ike were snuggled close to eachother while eating their waffles.

"Oh, _joy_..." I mumbled to myself.

"Elli-Belly!!!" Brandi cheered as she saw me walk into the room.

"We made,.." She turned and grabbed a plate behind her, turning back with an even bigger smile. "Waffles!! Just like when you were little!"

"Yeah, you _sure_ did." I faked a smile and she handed the plate to me and I sat at a vacant chair on the opposite side of the table from Mister and Misses Stupid.

"Ellen?" Ike looked up from his newspaper to me, thank goodness he wasn't going to try any of that annoying, trying to be my father stuff, like calling me 'kiddo' or 'sport',..thank goodness.

"Yes?" I replied while cutting a waffle with the side of my fork.

"_Well_," He sounded very unsure, and this baffled me, making me actually pay attention.

"Well.., I told Mrs. Carte that maybe sometime, _if_ you weren't busy," He laughed weakly, nervous, I suppose. "that _maybe_, you would help her out around the shop?" This sounded more like a question. "I mean because, you don't know anyone here, and I thought it'd be a good way for you to meet people, and make some friends, and be more comfortable here.." And that sounded like an assumption.

I looked down at my plate to cut another peice of waffle, only to raise my head back up with a fake smile, prepared to overflow with lies.

"That sounds nice, Ike." I chuckled a fake little laugh.

"I think I might, when did she say I could come in?" Anything was better than being inside all day, stuck to think about things that I could certainly do without thinking of.

Ike's voice sounded relieved and rejoiced, and his smile was onehundred percent authentic. "She said you can start as early as _today_!" He prompted with a smile. And all the while Brandi was gazing on, scared when Ike was scared and choking with happiness while he was choking on my lies- no doubt about it now, Misses and Mister Stupid now share one tiny brain.

"I think I might go in a while." I said, turning to Brandi. "Mom, these waffles were delicious. Thank you." I smiled politely and she beamed at me, making me feel like my smile was a little bit real.

"You are most certainly welcome, Elli!" She giggled and I rose to go wash my dish.

"I think I'm going to go brush my teeth, then get going." I stated with a smile.

"Goodbye, Elli!! Have fun!" Brandi cheered to me, I turned to Ike and nodded, and he nodded back.

"Good luck, _Kiddo'_." He encouraged. 'Damnit. He just had to go there' I grimaced as walked out of the room, away from this love-fest.

I spent a little extra time brushing my teeth and fixing my hair, because, who knows, maybe I might meet somebody. And I was kind of considering a summer job to take my mind off of things. Oh, so many things my mind needed to be taken off of.

Little did I know, this job wasn't going to make anything any better than it already wasn't.

I walked down the street staring at the sheet of paper that had the directions to "Flowers of Faith", a flower slash herb slash tea shoppe.A shoppe that I was about to be enslaved to. It was Saturday, so the people who were busy on Friday, or the people who just procrastinate too much, would all gather around the centre to buy items at the markets. I waded around a little, trying to build enough patience to deal with people all day. When I was full, I walked into the little shoppe, and the bell rang signifully behind me, and an old woman greeted me with a smile.

"Welcome, dear lady! How may I help you?" Her accent was already rubbing me the wrong way, and everybody here besides Brandi and I (since Ike was originally from the U.K. in the first place) had the same accent. I put on a smile and gathered my politeness.

"Um, Yes. May I speak to Ms.Carte?" The woman looked startled when she heard my voice, noting that I'm the 'newcomer'.

"Ahh, Yes!" She said cheerfully, her eyes brightening. "I'm Ms.Carte. You must be the new arrival, Miss Ellen Milenta!" She said my name like a beauty pagent host. I felt cross for a moment, but then returned to my act.

"Sanders-hyphen-Milenta." I corrected with a giggle. "It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Carte, I'm sure I'll enjoy working here." I smiled a little tilting my head, and that is what won her over.

"Such a lovely lady!" She beamed, taking my wrist, her face becoming a little concerned. "Oh, my! But, so cold, are you." she snapped back to happy-mode and started pulling my wrist so she could drag me to my new personal hell. "Well, Come, come. I must introduce you to your fellow employers." Honestly, the accent was starting to soak in, I was growing more used to it. I nodded and followed along.

"How old are you, dear? Sixteen, seventeen?" She asked still leading the way behind the counter, realeasing once we arrived there.

"Fifteen, actually." A little ashamed, everyone always thought I was older than I really was, and I do wish I was.

"Oh, Perfect!" She cried merrily. "My two sons are fifteen and sixteen! And trust me, dear, their real lookers!" She grinned proudly, and I couldn't help but smile back. Maybe I can find someone better than Jake here, and I could retaliate for him breaking up with me by showing off an even better boy when I visited.This plan was evil. _Diabolical_,...I loved it.

"Oliver, Colton!" She called like she was calling dogs.

Out of nowhere an abrupty voice came into the room. It was dark and heavy and, as expected, the same accent.

"Yeah? What'cha need, Mum?" He said while staying out of my veiw.

"Where's your brother?" She asked wearily.

"Ah, you know him," I turned to see his face and was stunned. He was extremely pale, his hair was an onyx black, cropped short against his broad face, and with black eyes to match. Exactly the same as the painting in the ancient house, but even more mind-blowingly stunning in real life. "always out, messing around, getting into some trouble," He laughed a heavy laugh. "Sneaky little bastard." He laughed again and turned to me, a qestionative look on his dashing face. "Ello, who might you be, dear?" He stared at me tentively. I couldn't think of anything to say, my mind was blown away by the lively fragrance that came off of his breath.

"She is Miss Ellen Milenta, shes new here,love, and she'll be working for us now." Ms. Carte said, probably noticing how mesmerized I was. She chuckled a little to herself and continued, "Ellen,dear, this is Colton, my oldest son. And Colton," She turned to him. "This is Ellen, your new employee."

"Wonderful to meet you, Ellen." He said holding out his hand for me to shake. I didn't accept his hand shake, so I just smiled instead. He probably saw how shy I was being in his presence, and smiled prestigiously.

'Don't get cocky.' I thought to myself, annoyed. An abrupt bang from the back of the shoppe startled me, but did nothing, however, to the other two present in the room with me.

"Ah, you see, Mum, he's back." Colton stated with his accent still in tact.

"Oh, I see. You're right, love. Oliver, dear, would you come here?" She yelled, still sounding like she was calling a dog.

A moment later, the back door swung open and a boy walked though. Since I was behind the door, I couldn't see him when he walked in, but I could feel something bad was going to happen, and again, my heart felt like the blood had flooded out, rushing to my head. The door swung close, and I could see his back now, but it was all I needed to see to become aware that this was the same boy from the river, his hair the same ashy black and his skin, still white as ice. He stood still, very still, like he did yesterday. And also like yesterday, when I gasped for air, he spun quickly around and looked at me. But, no, this time was different. His eyes were closed, and he was biting his lip, as if he were trying to make a very rational descision.

"Oliver, love, this is Ellen, your new employee." Ms. Carte explained.

He took a breath when she said employee, and bit his lip harder from what I could tell. I still stood like a stone, taking slow and very quiet breaths. Then he did something that seemed to shock everyone in the room; he held his hand up as a gesture to shake, like in my dream. Also like in my dream, I didn't hesitate taking it, and I didn't feel totally surprised when he opened his eyes, revealing an emrald green, full and emotionless, my least favourite colour at the moment.

"Im..Oliver." He spoke softly, shaking my hand, staring dead straight into my eyes. His voice wasn't as heavy as everyother man here, and his accent was well contained. But as sweet Colton's breath smelt, his was much more lavish, cold and sweet, almost too sweet.

My cheeks filled with colour, and I couldn't contain my laughter. He let go of my hand, a little frightend, I assume. And even Ms. Carte and Colton were looking at me like I was insane. Oliver stood still, putting his hands in his pockets, and looking at me oddly, the only expression was confusion.

"Ello, what's all this then?" Colton said, interrupting my sudden spur of laughter.

I controlled my laughter, and looked up at Oliver, his eyes still reading me, and smiled. I was suprised I wasn't faking this smile.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I couldn't contain my giggles. It's..just..You _scared_ me!" I kept laughing, and he kept looking at me like I was insane.

"_Well_..Colton, love, I'll need you to work the cash register, and Oliver, love, would you be a dear and show Ellen how to tend to the plants?" Ms. Carte asked after a moment of silence filled the room. Colton nodded and walked away, but Oliver stood frozen. I looked up at him, his eyes were fixtated angrily on his mother. His emrald green eyes,..how they made my stomach turn. She nodded to him, and walked away, leaving him angry and clenching his fists. Which made me feel a little bad, because, obviously, he didn't want anything to do with me. He gave an agitated groan and signaled me to follow.

It was warm and moist in the greenhouse, and it was small, too, so it was quite suffocating. I watched him as he demonstrated, but I already knew what I was doing, I had my own little garden back in the states.So instead, I took this time to watch him, to try to get to know him a little better by observing his actions, his swift actions. I realized I had stopped breathing again, and a sudden intake of air is what pushed him over the edge.

"_Why_ do you do that?!" He snapped, his eyes melting mine were hostile. Hostile and deadly. I looked at him dumbly, and shook my head, trying to loosen the grasp of his eyes. No luck, he stood there, growing more angry while I didn't respond.

"Uhh.." I felt my breath quicken, I wasn't scared though, I was, just, ...I don't know. He looked at me still, his clenched fists starting to loosen. And he himself loosened. He smiled a little, and he was unmistakingly beautiful when he did, and he laughed. A musical laugh, a laugh that could make anything better, a sweet laugh. A somewhat hostile laugh. He looked down at me and stepped foward, putting his hands in his pockets and slouching down to eye-level with me. He tilted his head a little, and opened his mouth to say something but stopped. He looked me in the eyes, and his eyes weren't so petrifying when they were on the same level as mine, maybe thats what made him seem hostile.

"Do I make you _uncomfortable_?" He sneered.

Nope, he was still hostile, still petrifying, still,..absolutely unexplainable. I took quick breaths, and quickly closed my eyes and shook my head, I couldn't bare say anything now.

"Hm." He sighed. "Guess we can't be even just yet."

I looked up at him, but he was looking away, looking at a flower who's bright green leaves were dull in comparison to his eyes. At that moment I realized..Too much green. I turned and looked around, there was green everywhere. Too much green. My thoughts raced, and I was ready to sprint, going straight for somewhere where there wasn't ny green. Why is there so much damn _green_?! I could feel my body start to tremble, this wasn't good at all. A white hand extended towards me and pressed against my forehead. It was so cold, but then, it was so warm.

"Jesus, you're freezing! Are you alright?" He took my shoulders in his hands, and looked at me, for the first time, without hostility.

"Uhh..I..Need some fresh air?" He looked at me relieved that I had said something, and walked behind me and nudged the small of my back, leading me outside.


	4. Creature

I took a much needed breath, and opened my eyes to the bitter wind of the outside. Everything was calm though, and only few people walked the streets, It was getting dark I suppose. I found a spot on the steps of the shoppe and sat, and I felt better now. Oliver stood a few feet away from me, trying to keep his distance. I looked at him, but he didn't look back, even though it was obvious that he could tell I was looking at him. I looked to the ground hesitatively, twirling my thumbs around eachother.

"Thanks.." I stuttered, it was harder than I thought.

"Hm?" He turned to look at me, his expression confused. "For what?" he continued.

"For..umm.." Why _was_ I thanking him? I sat there baffled and thought of a good reason. "For.._helping_ me?" It sounded like a question, but he just laughed, although, I didn't see what was so funny. Another gust came in, and I shivered against it. And he watched, didn't say anything, just watched.

"You're cold." Sounded like a statement.

"_Ehh_," Another wind blew, making me even chillier. "_Yeah_.." I shivered with a chuckle. He let out a sigh and looked away.

"Don't you have a jacket?" He snapped after a minute of silence.

"Yeah, at home.. I guess it never hit me about how cold it was until now." I let out a weak chuckle, and he rolled his eyes at me.

"You are _unbelievable_." He muttered to himself, I probably wasn't meant to hear it.

"How so?" I pressed. He looked at me in shock, shock mixed with confusion.

"How can you be outside for over twenty minutes, and just now finally realize that it's bloody cold?" His accent was strong, and it made me quite unstable.

"Well," I snapped back. "_maybe_ I have a lot on my mind!"

"Well, at least now we know _something's_ going on in there." he mumbled. I was absolutely appaled! I stood up and threw my hand to my hips in a snobby way.

"Excuse me?!" I yelled. He looked at me emotionless, and rested his elbow on his knee, and his chin in his palm.

"You're excused." He snapped stalely.

I let out a groan of agitation and sat back down, on the abolute edge of the steps, as far away from him as possible, and he just followed me with his eyes with a smirk on his face. My heart stopped after a minute's silence was interrupted by abrupt laughter. I turned towards him swiftly and was disgusted. He was just sitting there laughing, holding his stomach, and repeating to himself, "_Wow_," and "_Oh, lord_." I just watched him baffled and he looked at me for a breif moment and then went back to his hysterics.

'Theres something really wrong with this boy.' I thought to myself, anger growing at the fact that I had no clue what he was laughing about. My fists balled up, and knew I reached my limit.

"What the _hell_ is so god damn _funny_?!" I shouted above his laughter, making him pause.

"You." He stated coldly, then started breaking out into laughter again.

"You're _unbelievable_." I pressed, rolling my eyes and looking away. In a short moment he was next to me, his eyes stabbing the back of my head like daggers. I couldn't breath, so I closed my eyes, and awaited the torment. I was surprised when he laughed again, this time very close to my ear. He took a couple of peices of my hair and slowly tucked them behind my ear, leaving me breathless.

"Thank you, love." He whispered in my ear, his breath was cold and over-sweetend in my face. I gasped for air, and opened my eyes, only to find that he was in front of me now. His eyes read my face like a hidden message in a note, and he smiled.

"Goodnight." He whispered, rose, and walked away in the opposite direction from the shoppe. He wasn't human, I kept thinking to myself, that he wasn't human. No human I've ever known was nearly as unbelievable as this boy who just stood before me.

_What kind of a creature was he? _

I sat there for a moment, watching him depart, until Ms. Carte came outside and put her hand on my shoulder.

"Don't mind him, Dear." Her voice startled me back into the real world. "He may seem a bit queer, and none of us can tell you _why_ exactly, only our theories, but, he is a good boy,a total sweetheart." My mind orbited her words.

"Like," I struggled with the words. "what kind of _theories_?" Her eyes widened and she smiled again.

"Well," she started. "theres only one really." She paused to await my reaction, but there wasn't really one.

"When Oliver was eight, and Colton was nine, they tragically lost their father.And they were both very close to him, but I think Oliver took it the hardest, since he was the worst off when I found them." My eyes swung wide, and my mouth trembled.

"Fo-found? _Found_ them?" I repeated.

She looked at me calmly and nodded her head, still smiling, of course.

"Apparently, their mother died when they were even younger. Since I was the closest person to their father, he left it in his will that I'd be the one who'd take care of them if anything ever happend." she took a deep breath, closing her eyes, replaying the story in her mind like a movie."I found them both alone in their house after I heard the devistating news. Colton was in tears, and _Oliver_.." She opened her eyes, revealing gray irises. "Oliver, must have already reached the level way past just crying, it tore him apart, but he just couldn't gather enough strength to cry. He was a very sick child, always catching whatever bug came around," she chuckled repositioning herself to face the vast, open night sky. "He's had the chicken-pox a handful of times. And even though he was always following Colton and I around," she rested he chin in her hands. "he still seemed so _distant_." She then turned to me, a smile back on her wrinkled face. "That's why it was startling today when he offered to shake your hand, because I hadn't seen him make physical human contact in so long." She whisped the dark brown hair out of my face whith a gentle swish of her wrinkled hand, and smiled once more. "Good thing you're a lovely one, Dear. You may be _just_ what he needs."

Her words stung at my breaths. And I barely noticed that she had said goodnight and walked back inside the shoppe to lock up.

I still sat there, frozen, the same sentence ringing again and again in my ears. I finally stood and started to walk beneath the night sky, heading home to try and make more sense of this. But the only conclusion that I made while strolling beneath this starless sky was this:

He wasn't some terrifying creature.

He was a human, a human with a soul.

A battered and beaten soul.

A lot of time went by, and I only visited the shoppe on days that the plants needed tending, and always when I arrived, Colton was there to greet me. He made me feel like a queen when I walked into a room, beaming like a loyal subject. He babbled on and on about himself, and his past, and his plans for the future. He was going to work in the medical feild, making medicines. How exciting, I always thought blandly to myself. But, yet, I felt comfortable around Colton. Maybe it was the puppy-like personalitly he had, or maybe I was just truely sticking to my word of not caring.

I found myself smiling honestly a lot more now, Ms. Carte and Colton were funny at times, and stupid at others, but even their stupidity was funny. They were just so easy to be around, and I felt like I coulld trust them both very much. Even Ms. Carte switched from calling me 'dear', to calling me 'love' like her two sons. And I felt like I was really becoming a part of this family.

That is, until Oliver would arrive with the key to the greenhouse, always smiling at me emotionless as if he was faking the whole thing. And as always, I was left gasping for air by the end of the day. He rarely said anything to me, and if he did, it was a reaction to my sudden chokes for air. He would only ask if I were clausterphobic, or if it was just him that made me uncomfortable.

I didn't respond to either.


End file.
